idiom · neutral
against the clock
UK/əˌɡenst ðə ˈklɒk/US/əˌɡenst ðə ˈklɑːk/a·GAINST the CLOCK
racing to finish something before a deadline
Examples
“We worked against the clock to finish the report before the meeting.”
“With only three hours left, the team was literally working against the clock.”
“Pressured by the grant deadline, she coded the final features against the clock.”
Band 8 sentence
“Facing a tight submission window, the research group had to work against the clock to produce publishable results.”
Collocations
- work against the clock
- race against the clock
Word family
Common mistakes
I worked against the clocked to finish it.→I worked against the clock to finish it.
I worked the clock to finish the report.→I worked against the clock to finish the report.
Say it for a higher band
5rush→6hurry→7+against the clock
Synonyms
race against time
Easily confused
at the eleventh hour
“They submitted the proposal at the eleventh hour, after weeks of delay.”
Related words
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In Time
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